My friends The Asian Marina Couple (TAMC) had gone to Chapeau! a few times (once even for Valentine’s Day) and raved about its French bistro food, the attentive neighborhoody service, and value-oriented prix fixe. Since they’re pretty picky about dining (yet also value-oriented like us GrubGirl groupies), I added Chapeau! to my list of places to check out. Finally I got the gals to go before hitting the Sex and The City movie.

My poor friend ABM up and moved out of the Mission into the far reaches of the Richmond, all to cohabitate with his fiancee. This means that easy access to Popeye’s and other fixings that remind him of his hometown of New Orleans are few and far between (until Hard Knox Cafe opened up a branch, recently.)

Eater SF alerted me to the news of Hard Knox prepping a space in the Outer Richmond for its soul food goodness. Their current digs are in the Dogpatch part of town, which I reviewed last year, so this new location amongst my peoples will be a welcome addition.

(Bryant, you’ll only have 5 blocks to go if you’re looking for some fried catfish, fried chicken, or delicious pork chops and cornbread muffins.)

I’m looking forward to the invite to check out store #2…and am hoping the garlic powder flavor that seemed to be pervasive in my pork chops during my first visit is remedied.

If you’re looking for some cheap eats around lunchtime, the famous Brother’s Restaurant on Geary has a daily lunch special where you can get chicken, pork, or beef bulgogi (that’s Korean BBQ) for $7.95. That’s a little more than I usually pay for food but you have to remember that in general, Korean food is going to be more expensive than the real cheap eats which usually fall into the Chinese or Mexican food categories.